2 Important Questions

1. No one can answer that question. Food scale for 40$ at bed bath and beyond has nutrition label on it works awesome.
2. No

1. The permitted inaccuracy of nutrition labels is about 10%. The user error of guesstimating can be very far off.

2. Don't deprive yourself too much. The experienced losers are going to have a conniption when I say it, but my calorie deficit to the mfp goal on a day when I use my treadmill is usually over 1000. Like you I'm going to have a mini vacation next week. For my mini vacation, I'm not going to worry about weighing or logging. I do not expect to go far overboard as I've learned what's possible for me. I'll likely show a gain of less than 10 lb when I return, and it will likely take me a couple of weeks to re-lose the mostly water of it and achieve the weight I had before the mini-vacation. Life happens this way.

If I were to measure food again with cups, I would probably use a 3/4 cup measurement and log one cup and use 1/3 for 1/2, etc. I do weigh all of my food but spent a long time weighing the cup measurements just so that I could have a better understanding of the weight of cup measurements. I can't recall any food where cup measurements were ever actually accurate. Hope that makes sense.

And I often bank calories during the week for the weekend. It doesn't hinder my loss. As long as my weekly total stays within my allotment, I still lose weight.

I've list all my weight so far without a good scale - I know everyone on here seems by then, and I'm sure they are super useful, but for now just to your best.

1200 is already pretty darn low, you're likely safe to stay there, and then.just e joy your trip and eat all the yummy things reasonably.

Have fun!

Oh and the scale I bought want a clearance item, it's in the kitchen utensil area and regular priced at $5.

1.) I lost 40lbs without a food scale by estimating/measuring. If I was measuring 1 cup, I'd skim a finger off the top of the cup before eating it. I also got a digital food scale with a tare function that works great on amazon for $10. They aren't bank breakers.

2.) Sure, you could do that but I think you'll be miserable leading up to, and after your vacation. When we indulge, we balloon in water weight. Personally if it were me, I would eat my calorie goal up to and after, and while enjoying my weekend try to stick to maintenance calories, still log as best as I could, and make the best choices I could while out. When I got home, I'd avoid the scale for a week or two while I got back to normal, because regardless of how you go about it, you're going to see a jump. But at least if you figure out your maintenance calories and stay around there, you know that the weight is mostly water/sodium. If you go off the rails and don't keep track, not so much.

I have a super cheap scale that I bought for maybe $5 from Walmart. Also, use measuring cups/spoons when you can.

There are many ways to eyeball amounts if you dont' have scales.

The palm of your hand or a deck of cards is approximately 3 ounces of steak.
a checkbook is the size of 3 ounces of fish.
A cup of cereal is about the size of your fist.
A baseball is equal to one cup of pasta, rice or mashed potatoes, veggies,
a ping pong ball represents two tablespoons of peanut butter or a 1/4 of a cup of dried fruit.
Make a thumbs up. The section above your thumb knuckle is approxmm the size of one teaspoon of butter.
Hold up your index finger and middle finger. those two fingers combined are approx. the size of one ounce of cheese.

I got my food scale for $10.99 on amazon. But I only use it to measure dry stuff like rice, flour, etc. I'm just really bad at eyeballing or even using measuring cups for that. I can fit 2 cups of rice in a one cup measure. Other than that, I'd say just estimate up and you will probably be ok.

for question 2...I don't know about eating as low as 600-800...I'd be really hungry and mean. I'd probably just say screw it and eat what I want on vacation.

Depending on how much weight you have to lose, I think estimating and using measuring cups and spoons can help you reach a deficit at first. It is certainly better to make an attempt than to just whatever with no regard for portions. As you get closer to your goal weight, you will most likely find that you have much less wiggle room with your deficit. I prefer to weigh all of my food except for liquids (I do weigh oils though,) in grams and track them that way. If you are able to purchase a scale eventually, scoop up a measuring cup full of something you eat, then weigh it. You will probably be surprised by the difference in actual grams versus what the package says 1 cup is. I certainly was!